


Kindred Spirit

by EriiErii



Series: Kiransona Collection [4]
Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: Corruption, Feral Behavior, Illusions, Multi, Near Death Experiences, Shadow Pokemon, Shapeshifting, Transformation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:07:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27135010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EriiErii/pseuds/EriiErii
Summary: In an attempt to save Lifonse and Kamui from a terrible fate, and to prevent Thorr from taking Eclair back, Kyo threw himself at Thorr's attack, only to pay a terrible price that left him in a heavily transformed, were-mew-like state as a shadow pokemon. Having his body completely turn against him, and leave him trapped in his own body as a feral beast, his supports struggle to try to free him from what Thorr considered to be his "trial" to test his body and soul.However, shadow pokemon were made by design to be fighting machines, who are incapable of recognizing their own physical limits, and fully run the risk of running themselves to death under their intense drive to kill. As time is ticking before Kyo would suffer total collapse, his supports and their family struggle to try to find a cure to purify him from the tight grip of the black mana corrupting him.
Relationships: Alfonse/My Unit | Kamui | Corrin, Alfonse/My Unit | Kamui | Corrin/Suzukaze | Kaze/Summoner | Eclat | Kiran, Alfonse/Summoner | Eclat | Kiran, Alfonse/Suzukaze | Kaze, Líf/Ryoma/Summoner | Eclat | Kiran, Marx | Xander/Summoner | Eclat | Kiran, Ryoma/Summoner | Eclat | Kiran, Suzukaze | Kaze/My Unit | Kamui | Corrin, Suzukaze | Kaze/Summoner | Eclat | Kiran
Series: Kiransona Collection [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1652392
Kudos: 1





	1. Trial

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! For post updates, questions, art and general random silliness in between, check me out at eriisaam.tumblr.com for more!

He trusted them. It wasn't even a trust easily earned in the first place, but he trusted him.

And yet, Lifonse broke it. For how long it took to win him over, it was so quick and easy to betray him.

Except this was so much worse. It wasn't just his ability to regain that trust that was on the line, but now Kyo's life as well.

It escalated so quickly. Thorr still remained as relentless as ever to lure Eclair back to her and Loki. The forma summoner that they so readily and willingly left for dead to the Hall of Forms in its cycle of dying and rebuilding was now someone they tried heavily to gain back. It was all because the 'useless' summoner proved not quite as harmless after all. 

"You won't yield to me because you fear me, yes?" She tried to take a gentle tone to him when she cornered him. But how 'gentle' can one truly be when she was a God of War, and one far too accustomed of simply crushing all who opposed her or her master? "And yet, you surround yourself with  _ them. _ Those mortals with you will only bring about your destruction, Magni."

Lifonse could clearly see the discomfort on Eclair's face at the name. It only grew when she stressed just how unsafe he was around him or Kamui. He refused to believe her, and he made his unwavering faith in them clear, even with a timid, gentle tone.

But his actual faith wasn't the point. Thorr was resolved to prove to him otherwise how wrong he was, even if she had to do so by force. Looking back, Eclair would've either been stuck with a feral, fallen, potentially degenerated silent dragon, or a broken, half-cohort disgrace of an Askran prince whose gateway powers would've run rampant. If any case, either of them turning on him would've justified her point well enough, especially while Kaze was too weak and far away to protect him.

Except… she didn't get either wish.

As she attacked, and as she aimed for the both of them, it was Kyo who slammed against them with the full force of his body, just in time to save them, but not enough to save himself. 

They didn't know what kind of effect it would have for Thorr to overpower a pokemon, let alone a human hybridized as a pokemon. Kyo would've known best, and as confused as it left Eclair and Kamui of what Kyo warned, Lifonse knew right away, and his heart already broke all over again.

"Get the hell out of here… Take that punk and get out! Don't come back for me, just get lost!  _ Now…!" _

It wasn't the first time Kyo spoke so harshly to them, but it wasn't the words Lifonse noticed, but Kyo's tone. His voice cracked, there was an equal amount of urgency and pleading in his voice, and before long, it became obvious of why.

Something in Kyo had completely snapped. He was overwhelmed by an intense, dark aura, and his eyes began to shift, from staining his scleras red, to contracting his pupils into thin, white slits. The entire time, he remained visible, but in every other respect, he was worse than the many faceless that he and Kamui fought against in the past.

His transformation was also incredibly painful. What used to be so seamless for him was now visibly and audibly tearing him apart, leaving him screaming in agony the entire process. Even if they wanted to heed his words, Kamui and Eclair were too horrified to run away. In fact, what stopped them from running toward him was Kaze making himself known in holding the two back, and what scared them further were the visible tells even Kaze couldn't keep entirely calm of it all.

Not even Kamui's very first transformation could compare to the blood-curdling cries, or the sickening sounds as Kyo's body violently betrayed him.

What was left behind was similar to a form Kyo briefly took once before, but now it was twisted almost beyond recognition. The first time he turned into this, he had fangs, he had claws, paws, fluffy drooped ears, a long tail with a fat, poofy tip… in describing it back to him, Lifonse remembered how Kyo only seemed confused for a brief moment before brushing it off in saying he somehow turned into a 'mew', but ruled it off as a rare fluke of his power. He was still gentle, still playful, if frustrated of his sudden change, and his fur took on the same soft, cyan tones as the blue bang of his otherwise black hair. More importantly, he was still  _ him. _

But now… Lifonse could see the way the fur that used to stop at Kyo's lower waist and arms had spread all over. He saw how much the only remote sign of his once human features were his hair and how much his face distorted in being neither human nor mew. He was some kind of werebeast Kamui and Kaze also couldn't fully compare with the wolfskins of Nohr, and felt horrified of what Thorr turned him into.

Yet, before any of them could say a word, the worse part of Kyo's changes weren't the physical parts. It was everything else on top of it.

When he finally stabilized in his transformation, he barely took pause to breathe and regain himself before he lunged. Lifonse wouldn't allow Kamui or Eclair to intervene, and Kaze outright pulled them back and clinged to them, all while both watched in horror as Kyo went completely feral. Anything in his path was immediately met with a violent flurry of fangs, claws, and death, and it took little time for the soft blue tones of his fur to take on a deep crimson tone in the onslaught. Every forma Thorr threw in his path was immediately shredded, but the longer Kaze and Lifonse watched Kyo turn the tide of battle, the more they realized an even more chilling part of his fury.

Kyo wasn't fighting to protect them. Nor was he fighting for the thrill, for survival, or in a panic.

He was slaughtering anything near him by virtue that  _ they were near him. _ It was like he became a mindless killing machine. It was as if nothing they did to him had phased him, even as he clearly got hurt. His efforts didn't even slow him down, even when he fought through such lengths that neither Kaze nor Lifonse could imagine he could last this long or fight with this level of intensity without straining himself. 

"What did you do…  _ What did you do to him?!" _

Kamui's words fell on deaf ears. Kyo didn't even notice, and he continued his vicious slaughter. If Thorr hadn't missed his words completely, she ignored them. Even when she could've easily snuffed his life out if she so pleased, and the temptation was especially strong right then, she took pause when she looked past the feral werecat to stare directly to Eclair.

Their eyes met. He felt scared under her sharp look just as her gaze pierced through his own glassy, hollow eyes. Even without uttering a single word more, her message to him was loud and clear.

Even if Kyo defied expectations, he demonstrated his pure will to fight, twisted as it may right then. For such a will, she would spare him from her wrath. 

But she also refused to help him. As Kyo remained a mindless, killing machine, even of her own (accidental) making, he was now a matter for Eclair to deal with. If he wanted the summoner back, he had to prove that he had a similar will.

That was his new test.  _ That's _ what she would leave him with now.

Thorr abandoned them just as they were all made immediately aware of a familiar sense of dread and static in the air. Just as Kaze hoped, his signals alerted Ryoma and Xander and led them and their supports to them as reinforcements. Both kings drew their swords, and they both already imbued their treasured weapons with electric and dark currents as they readied themselves to prepare to fight Kyo.

But even before Kamui could protest past a weak cry he couldn't stop, he noticed how both of his older brothers hesitated before looking back to Kyo.

The werebeast was finally slowing down. He clearly  _ wanted _ to engage in combat with Ryoma, Xander, and everyone else, but the way he stumbled and lurched forward had made it painfully obvious how heavily worn and wounded he was in the way he limped. His movements slowed to a near-literal crawl, but just before he could do more than growl at them, he completely collapsed, revealing one of his pokemon had released themself from their ball.

It was Anise. The gardevoir's eyes were glowing right until Kyo collapsed. Even after it was confirmed Kyo was put into a deep sleep, she had a saddened look on her face to see what became of her trainer.

Seizing the opportunity, Ryoma and Xander relented before they started making arrangements, not just on how to transport Kyo, but where to. Their supports were horrified as they each ran into the sight, but quickly jumped to task in trying to help him, from mending his severe wounds, to hauling him off when his body still refused to revert. 

Kyo's own supports could barely do much to help, past Kaze's involvement. Their hearts were all too heavy, and there was still so much to process.

If only they knew this was just barely the beginning…

* * *

Kamui's extended family were equal amounts horrified as they were sympathetic to the full story. However, sympathy and horror didn't translate to blind trust, given the circumstances leading up to this. 

Kyo was far too dangerous to trust him in his current form, especially when, even after the healers of the family had cleaned, mended and treated him, he still showed all the painfully visible tells he was still trapped in his form, and likely, his feral mindset with it.

Out of them, it was Camilla who suggested that Kyo was to be kept in the dungeons, specifically, the one in Corrin's castle realm. Her reasoning was not just from the fact it was empty and hadn't seen any use for a long time since Hoshido's and Nohr's truce, and thus could be reconstructed for his needs, but it was also nearby Corrin's old treehouse, perfect for where Kyo's supports could stay in the meantime while Kyo was being treated. With a heavy heart, the others agreed, and while Kyo was left sedated while treating his physical wounds, arrangements were made to give Kyo room to roam even while caged, a cozier environment, and better lighting. 

After all, the alternatives were worse. No doubt, Lifonse felt binding him mid-treatment had already done its job stirring Kyo up enough as it were. And none of them wanted to dwell long on the idea that it might’ve been too much for the Kyo they knew to come back from.

...No. He still had a fighting chance. It couldn’t be the end, not like that… Not after coming this far…

Both kings knew this went far beyond just what this world held. The best either could hope for was that somewhere among the three worlds the summoners came from, a cure could be found to the curse Thorr tormented Kyo with. So Ryoma and Xander immediately turned to seek out Erin and Teru in bringing the two back to Corrin’s castle realm with them.

When Erin saw him, she barely held her tongue as not to curse within earshot of Elise and Sakura, especially when both were stressed out as it were. With Teru, he held no such reservations in seeing his ex suffering as he had. 

If seeing Kyo try and fail to try to maul them wasn’t already painful enough, there was the sight of how much it clearly hurt his supports as they all barely held themselves together to be near him. 

“...Please…” Even at the first word, Kaze’s voice already cracked, betraying the forced way he tried to maintain a calm demeanor. It was more than the other three could even attempt right then without breaking further. “Is there more we can do to help him?”

“...We owe it to him to try…” But already, Erin and Teru could both see that it wasn’t going to be the most pleasant experience for everyone involved. With a groan, Erin rubbed her face, as if trying to wake herself up more. Whatever the case, she and Teru weren’t about to give up on him. “Why don’t we start from the beginning. What the hell happened to lead to this?”

And with their willingness to help, Kaze relayed all that he could. From the beginning. 

Lifonse tried to add in his own details every so often, but it was Kaze who remained calm and level enough not only to explain in full, but in as much detail as possible, from what led to the attack, to what tells Kyo gave in his voice and body language before he lost his ability to speak to them completely and became what he was. Somehow, Kaze managed to keep a steady head to be both thorough in his details, yet succinct to summarize the situation to as few words as possible.

He was grateful for it, more than Lifonse could put to words. But he also regretted putting so much onto Kaze to navigate when it was more of Lifonse’s own responsibility and failings than Kaze’s.

He already did so much to fail Kyo, to fail everyone…

And yet, before he could fully lose heart again, he focused on the two summoners. He watched the way they tensed, perked, hesitated, alternated glances between Kaze and Kyo… but it brought him a faint glimmer of hope when Erin suddenly seemed resolved, rather than fearful anymore. He could see the way a thought came up, and she seemed just a little more hopeful than before.

“...Maybe it’s a stretch, but… Teru, does your and Kyo’s world actually have shadow pokemon?”

“...Y...yes... “ Teru caught on fairly quickly to what Erin was implying, but even so, he wasn’t as quick to feel hopeful of such a thought. “However, I haven’t dealt with any on a personal level. And I doubt Kyo had either…”

“So… He isn’t a faceless after all.” Maybe he didn’t understand the full extent of the point, but Ryoma also started seeing where Erin’s hope laid. A faceless would be a point of no return, but if she seemed hopeful as it were…

“What does that mean…?” But it was a point Lifonse couldn’t fully take in. Not right then. His thoughts were too clouded, and he felt dread even to label Kyo as a shadow pokemon.

“It means he isn’t completely lost. And assuming it’s true for pokemon after all, we already have one way that may immediately fix this. Didn’t the three of you come here because of a celebi the two of you have?”

“Is it really that easy…?” He wanted to hope, but it seemed too good to be true. Could Lifonse  _ really _ count their blessings so quickly? He could see Kaze shared the same reservations he had, but Kamui and especially Eclair were much quicker to show their hope.

“Only one way to find out. Go get your celebi. If it works, he’ll be fine. If it doesn’t, then we can prepare a few more Plan Bs to test as well.”

“In that case… I’ll take my leave and gather some supplies as well.” So far, for what Erin proposed, Teru didn’t find reason to protest her plan, but the way he knew exactly what to anticipate led everyone else to spare just a little more hope. If a summoner from the World of Pokemon had no objections, surely, they were on the right track to fix this.

“Teru… Allow me to join you.”

“You don’t have to go out of your way, Xander-”

“ I insist.” 

With little else but a sigh, Teru left, and Xander shadowed him every step of the way. For as much as Kaze volunteered to hunt down the whereabouts of the celebi, Lifonse declined, and he eased Kamui on the decision to tell the dragon prince to stay behind and remain with Eclair and Kyo. Out of them, Ryoma and Kaze stayed behind to remain on guard while those tasked to heal Kyo left the task for Erin to take over, taking up where Elise and Sakura left off before. 

The easy part was to find Iounn again, especially when Lifonse relied on the pokeball connecting them to him and Kamui. The hard part was trying to remain calm all throughout the search. The celebi mercifully didn’t take long to find, nor much effort to coax into joining him again, and in knowing bits and pieces of psychic-types, and celebies being among them, a part of him wondered if the ease was Iounn sensing his underlying distress.

With the forest spirit back with them, and with Teru and Xander returning with bags worth of supplies each, all he could do was pray.

* * *

They settled down and introduced Iounn back to Kyo’s corrupted form. Already, it brought about some concerns when the mere sight of the celebi spurned Kyo to snarl at them and try to attack them. With how worn out he still was, the shackles to his ankles and wrists, and the bars of his cell kept him in place, but it only emphasized the level of damage Thorr’s curse did to him when all he could think of was to kill.

The idea behind letting them meet was for Iounn to help Kyo recall the best memory he could. Normally, to purify a shadow pokemon this way called for a time flute to summon them just long enough to rouse such memories on sight, but it was them having Iounn that Kamui and Eclair already counted their blessings. Or at least, that was the gist Lifonse picked up between Erin and Teru explaining it before. Mercifully, Iounn complied with such a request, especially when Eclair outright begged them.

Lifonse wanted to believe this was all it’ll take to bring Kyo back. More than anything, he just wanted this to be over, to ease Kyo, and to help him out of this nightmare Thorr trapped him in.

He took in a rougher breath when Iounn made it much more apparent how they were using their power. He saw the way Kyo took visible pause when Iounn linked with him. From the look in his eyes, Lifonse could recognize that Kyo  _ did _ have a moment of clarity. 

He dared to hold his breath in anticipation this nightmare could be over with, if Kyo just had a bit of time to ground himself. Even the others, but especially Teru, watched Kyo with a look Lifonse could only describe as pleading hope.

And it was fleeting.

And it was futile…

He could clearly see evidence there was merit to Erin’s advice. It  _ did _ work, but just as quickly, it all came undone.  _ Something _ stirred in Kyo that his memories set off, but Lifonse and Kaze doubted it was entirely just so. 

His aura flared up just as he let out another pained cry, just like the pained screams he made when he was transformed into this state in the first place. The Kyo they knew was in there somewhere, but right as they could get a glimpse of him, he was trapped yet again in his own body in a prison they couldn’t reach. 

_ “Kyo-!” _

“Eclair, hold.”

Before Eclair could reach the door to Kyo’s cel, Kaze pulled him into a hug. His movements were swift yet firm, and he kept a similar watch over Kamui. To the dragon prince’s credit, he was still too shellshocked to move, let alone rush to make the same mistake.

He was gone again. They were close, but they were even worse off than where they all started. He was back to being a snarling, vicious beast who wanted nothing more than to tear Eclair to pieces, but now he was lashing out from pain as well. It was to a point Anise yet again freed herself from her pokeball just to sedate Kyo in hypnotizing him to sleep just to ease his pain.

The black mana that plagued his body took much longer to fully ease away, long after Kyo himself fell unconscious.

...Where to go from here? 

* * *

“...You all saw that, right?”

Erin finally broke the silence after everyone nearly fell silent since easing Kyo again. The only exception was Eclair, and it was clear from the soft sounds he made that he was forcing himself not to cry so obviously, and barely succeeding. While Kyo was left to rest, they’ve gathered themselves a short distance away, with a table they used as a makeshift council, the center of which they piled Teru’s and Xander’s earlier supplies of.

“Saw what…?” Lifonse’s tone was softer than earlier. He already felt scared to trust in his hopes in full to begin with, and to see Kyo go several steps back from recovering, he could barely muster the energy to maintain an even tone anymore. Not when there was a very real possibility they could lose Kyo in the worst way possible short of watching him die again.

He could barely maintain his focus either. Maybe the others felt similarly, especially when Lifonse noticed how much Kaze seemed even more tense in his own focus, possibly to make up for Lifonse. Kamui and especially Eclair were even worse off, but there were clearly attempts to try, and nobody dared call them out otherwise.

From what Lifonse tried to follow, Erin’s point was about the black mana Kyo’s body was engulfed in when he lashed out from his pain. Apparently, much like how faceless would mostly hide themselves from view, shadow pokemon don’t normally expose such intense, visible auras either, and such auras take unusual steps to be able to detect, much less see so vividly. 

Whether or not he still technically counted as a shadow pokemon, his reaction to a celebi, combined with the visibility of his aura, rendered him as a special case nonetheless.

However, it wasn’t quite fair either to rule the attempt as a total failure. It gave them just enough insight of how to approach Plan B. He responded well to his senses, but nostalgia alone wouldn’t bring him back. What he needed was more involved support.

"For now, let's try to ease him and tend to him until we can find a breakthrough." With their ace no longer on the table, Iounn left to their own devices once more when their initial plan with them failed. Teru took charge next, and revealed his supplies consisted mostly of food and aromatic goods. However, he didn't seem as confident of his or Xander's hoard. 

"Pokemon snacks…?" Then again, could Lifonse truly be surprised? If the help of a celebi was meant to draw out the best memories of a person in vivid detail, he realized Teru went out of his way to not only get food for Kyo, but food he specifically loved most that the mess halls of their worlds couldn't supply.

"He hasn't eaten for some time, has he? Maybe it'll help him if we kept him sedated while one of you four fed him these. At least, we can keep him from falling ill on top of all this…"

And it was true how critical it was, moreso when they, but especially Kamui, knew all too well how much energy Kyo was rapidly burning to maintain the form he was currently stuck in. And this barely scraped the surface of the nigh permanent adrenaline rush Thorr subjected him to as well.

But he also hated the idea that even in such a simple task of keeping Kyo fed and tended to, that they had to forcefully render him too drowsy to fight back. 

And he could see how much it was killing Kamui inside. Kyo was a person. Their love. Not some wild beast. Just like how, as difficult as he could be sometimes, he made the same distinction for a dragon like Kamui, and he was firm to etch it into his heart. 

And yet, Thorr twisted him to become  _ this. _ A direct mockery of what he taught Kamui.

And it was all their fault he was turned into this.

Anise remained firm in assisting to keep Kyo at his weakest, even if the gardevoir did little to hide how much it pained her likewise of it all. When he stirred again, she maintained her power just enough to weaken him, but not enough to put him to sleep again. There were reservations to fully trust this was enough, and Kamui and Lifonse in particular were quick to shield the others in venturing into Kyo's cell first, but the werecat proved he only had enough strength to growl at them. 

His red eyes gleamed, and the look he gave remained cold and hostile. He barely blinked, barely tore his gaze away, and even if he hadn't lashed out to them, he clearly had it in him to do so otherwise, had his own gardevoir not turned on him.

There was no sense of recognition in the look he gave. 

Nor was there any sense of hunger, either. Getting close enough, he watched how much Kyo openly threatened him and Kamui in the way he snarled and barred his fangs, but he still hadn't uttered a word otherwise. Yet even when Lifonse felt highly uncomfortable of it, Kamui reached over to pet Kyo by the side of his muzzle, along his cheek, and brushed him along the top of his head, combing his hair along his fingers.

To Lifonse's relief, Kyo didn't attack him. But to his dismay, the contact didn't help soothe him or rouse any feelings out of him either. At least, feelings besides the ongoing urge to want to break Kamui where he stood.

"H-hey, Kyo… You must be starving, right…?"

And to their utter disappointment, no matter how much they suspected otherwise, Kyo acted completely indifferent to any form of food, as if he was already full. No amount of waving things from Lumiose galettes to pokepuffs caught his interest, and while Kamui remained stubborn, his focus wouldn't shift away from seeing the two as threats. Short of force-feeding him, Lifonse relented and coaxed Kamui to leave the food behind instead.

What distracted them away from fighting a lost cause otherwise was noticing Teru try to set up small incense burners at the table. But even when they seemed ready to use, and easy to set up, Teru hesitated to light them right away.

Lifonse tried to split his focus between keeping an eye on Kyo and focusing on Teru. With Kyo, he trusted Kamui well enough that Kamui had things under control, as he tried to protect Eclair while coaxing him to reach out and pet Kyo's fur otherwise. And as far as Lifonse could see, his trust held true, and Kamui knew where to lead Eclair to touch Kyo at, and recognized the signs of when to back off otherwise. Maybe it didn't look like much progress at first, but Lifonse could swear that the way Kyo's growls reverberated had gradually grown less intense.

But with Teru, he overheard the way he seemed to be discussing the incense with everyone else, among whom Kaze tried to pay closer attention to. 

"With shadow pokemon, the point of this was to calm them with something familiar to them, right? Admittedly, these kinds of incense are a bit too different from the ones I exposed him to back then, but those ones are harder to find on such short notice… still... if these could at least put him at ease, well…"

He could hear it in his voice. Teru really  _ did _ try his best, but he didn't seem nearly as confident anymore when his 'best' had so far been repeatedly ignored. The incense may not have been as big of an issue if it weren't for seeing the ways he had already failed his ex and all of them as it were, in memories or otherwise.

For how badly a celebi of all things failed, Teru could barely hide the what-ifs that came about it. Had he really not been able to recall a single, potent enough memory to bring him peace? Was he far more miserable than he realized when they were still together, let alone now? He barely held his tongue and masked his uncertainties right then while managing the incense.

But before Teru could light the incense that already came with the small jars, Ryoma stopped him. Even Kaze took pause of why, before Ryoma dug up something in his convoy, and produced a small bundle of his own instead.

"... If yours weren't close enough, will these do?"

"Are those from Izumo?" Even Xander was surprised, if only a little. Incense, by itself, wasn't exactly a rare commodity, but even he was immediately familiar that these particular ones were a treasured offering, reserved for special occasions.

Whether or not Teru knew the full extent of their meaning (and in all fairness, Lifonse was even less familiar of it), he could already piece together the weight behind this gesture. With precautious sniffs of the vague scent behind each stick, his eyes lit up, and already told Ryoma more than enough that he was right.

"It's almost exactly it, yes. But… are you sure?"

"Go on."

"Milord…"

"It would find better use here than in my convoy, Kaze. I insist."

With the reassurance, Teru prepared the new incense, even if it meant taking off the top cover of the burner to make them stand. With little time, the entire dungeon carried an obvious, yet gentle scent to it that Lifonse immediately made him think of the temples and cathedrals of the past. 

It was just close enough to remind Teru of the Bell Tower and Sprout Tower back in Johto, especially the times he and Kyo used to venture there together to leave offerings and take blessed charms.

And as Lifonse looked back to Kyo, he noticed how he seemed to lose much of his earlier edge at the scent. It was like he lost some of his urges to try to fight Kamui and Eclair, even if it felt like resignation over familiarity.

There was still much to be done, but for that moment, there was another glimpse that Kyo wasn’t entirely gone. Not yet.

They just needed more to help pull him back the rest of the way.


	2. Error

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the most obvious and potent ways to cure a shadow pokemon (let alone a shadow pokemorph) of their condition ultimately failed, tensions rise as Kyo's fate lies even more uncertain. Is there any end in sight of this? Lifonse, Kaze and Eclair struggle to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! For post updates, questions, art and general random silliness in between, check me out at eriisaam.tumblr.com for more!

Even when Ryoma and Xander couldn’t stay for long, both made their points clear that they were just a call away from returning to help, either directly or through Erin and Teru otherwise. While Erin came and went in checking Kyo’s health, Teru made less frequent trips back, but when he had, it was always with a bounty of not just more food from his world, but incense with unusual bell-shaped flowers printed on their box. Even when Ryoma and Xander dug up and left behind more incense they hoarded from all the times Izana gifted them in a show of good faith, there were points they could all guess Teru felt guilt for taking so much from either of them. In some ways, They shared that guilt, especially for the whole mess overall.

In their own ways, they tried to each keep their heads held high while supporting Kyo. They weren’t entirely able to pretend things were fine, but damned if they all didn’t try in their own ways.

But their masks held cracks, and under the pressure, those cracks were becoming more painfully obvious by the hour, let alone the day.

Elcair tried his best to hide his feelings, even when it sometimes led to him outright hiding his face, even from his own supports. He could see they already had too much running through their minds that they didn’t need him to add to their misery.

Over time, Kyo grew calmer, but still hadn’t grown any closer to regaining himself. At first, Kamui held a glimmer of hope in his eyes when the growling lessened, the resistance grew weaker, and Kyo seemed less interested to attack them. It made him feel that maybe, he could afford to believe that Kyo was improving. At first, Eclair believed the same thing, that maybe he started to recognize them again and he’d be fine.

It was overhearing Lifonse and Kaze that Eclair’s heart broke of the truth.

He wasn’t eating. No matter how long he went without food, he held no interest to even take pause and notice it, much less eat it. The black mana consumed him in ways he remained steadily, unflinchingly focused on everything being a threat, and whether or not he could kill it. No amount of hunger pangs or familiarity of the look and smell of the food could draw his attention to try it. The food only came and went because Lifonse and Kaze alternated on taking the food out to try again to feed him, only to take it back before it could spoil when he refused to touch it in favor of growling at them, and not because he ate his meals, as Kamui and Eclair thought. Eclair only found out of it in secret, and only by overhearing Lifonse crack under the pressure and break in Kaze’s arms, debating whether or not they were being cruel and selfish at this point.

Kyo was only ‘calmer’ by virtue that his body was too weak to keep up with the cold, robotic demeanor the black mana forced him to be. It made Lifonse question all the other times Kyo started calming and settling down when he over-thought it, to a point he attributed all signs of “progress” as signs Kyo was actually dying.

And if they couldn’t free him soon, he couldn’t tell anymore if it would’ve been cruel to force him to continue living or not. Especially if they had to take drastic measures soon to do so. 

Eclair kept it to himself of what he overheard. In the times he met with Kamui to tend to Kyo and fuss over him, he continued to pet along his fur with Kamui and spoke to him, but since the encounter, he became much more aware of the way Kyo’s eyes dulled and didn’t fully open, or the ways his breathing seemed just a little rougher than their last meeting. In the times he met with Kaze and Lifonse otherwise, he lost his own words little by little, until there were points he just couldn’t muster the will or effort to speak anymore.

One night, he also caught Lifonse sneaking out to speak with Iounn. When he himself couldn’t sleep well, he didn’t hesitate to follow him and eavesdrop. In a time Lifonse’s own thoughts darkened, he wondered out loud what would’ve happened had Lifonse been the one to be infected by the black mana, rather than Kyo.

Eclair may not have seen the outcome directly, but he saw enough how much it broke Lifonse even further. He also saw the way it haunted him all night, to the point he was pretty sure Lifonse fainted from exhaustion, rather than from willing himself to rest.

Eclair couldn’t take it anymore. If he had just willingly submitted to Thorr and Loki from the start, he knew Lifonse’s vision and Kyo’s reality wouldn’t have come to pass in the first place.

They would’ve all been far better off if he had faded with his origin realm in the Hall of Forms, just as the two wanted from the start.

* * *

When he was certain the other three were too deeply asleep to notice, Eclair carefully wiggled his way out of Kamui’s arms, and snuck his way out of their shared bed, taking cautious glances every so often to make sure Lifonse and especially Kaze wouldn’t wake up to follow him. After all, Lifonse and Kamui suffered enough, and it was already a long process to convince Kaze to dress so casually to sleep like this in the first place.

But when he snuck away and walked along the spiral steps of the treehouse, the more he second-guessed himself even to sneak away in the first place. The chill of the night’s air was a brief distraction, and it reminded him to tuck his hood down just a little lower and keep his coat squeezed just a little tighter together, but the distractions could only hold for so long.

Why was he out here? Where was he going now? To Kyo? To find Loki or Thorr instead? And how would he even go about finding them even if he wanted to? A part of him also nagged him further of just how heavily he had to consider if seeking either of them out was truly wise, especially for how much such an act would directly spit all over Kyo’s sacrifice and suffering.

_ “Erin, this is serious! And regardless of how confident you feel of it, I would rather you get a second opinion than to stay put, looking like  _ **_this_ ** _!” _

_ “Do you have any other better ideas then?! It’s better than to just stand around, waiting until he gives out!” _

_ “You can’t shoulder all of this! It  _ **_will_ ** _ kill you!” _

_ “I’m not going to just sit back and watch him die, Ryoma” _

_ “And I’m not about to let  _ **_both of you_ ** _ die either!” _

Eclair jumped before he could help himself. As his attention immediately landed on the source of the yelling, he could clearly see Ryoma storming out from where the dungeons were, but was quick to notice he was carrying Erin in his arms. Their yelling already sent chills along the back of his neck, but what scared him moreso was getting a good glimpse of Erin as Ryoma rushed by.

He could see the way her entire hand, nearly her entire arm, and parts of her cheek were covered in black patches, bleeding against her skin with tendril-like veins from where such energy was corroding onto her body. From where Ryoma ran from in carrying her off, to their verbal spats, Eclair’s heart sank when he pieced together what she likely did.

“We’ll figure this out together,but we need to take this in steps. For now, you need rest!”

“We don’t exactly have a lot of time for that, you’ve seen him!”

“Any more of that, and your body will give out! I hate it as much as you, but you can’t take the entire burden off his shoulders, not all at once!”

“Ryoma-”

_ “Please.” _

Though both of them initially remained firm on their points, Erin relented under Ryoma’s, especially when Ryoma refused to drop her. Their emotions ran high, and their tensions remained strong, to a point that in Erin’s weakened state, and Ryoma’s haste, they didn’t even realize Erin dropped one of her Breidabliks, nor did it cross Eclair’s mind why the two wouldn’t think twice to stop and pick up such a precious weapon. With little thought, he retrieved it, but before he could call out, Ryoma had already ran too far ahead, then disappeared.

He hugged Erin’s Breidablik for what little comfort the gun could offer, partially to protect it, and partially without realizing what he was doing. He knew deep down he could go back to Askr to give the gun back, but right then, when his thoughts were already frayed, he stood in place.

Without Ryoma or Erin, and with his supports otherwise asleep at the treehouse, he was suddenly much more aware of his surroundings. 

The steps he took were timid and cautious. He focused just a bit too much on everything, from the slightest crunch of the earth underfoot, to the rustling of the leaves against the wind, to the rustling of bushes, the crops of Corrin’s gardening, among other things. He  _ knew _ he was left all alone, and yet, he still remained highly keyed up all the same.

So much so, that he jumped and immediately turned on his heel when he heard something snap a twig.

Immediately, he came face to face with a small, light-blue, cat-like creature with gleaming red eyes. Their fur was bristled up, but among their features, Eclair immediately focused on how their eyes were entirely unnaturally red down to the scleras, how their tail was extremely long, yet ended with a fat, rounded tip, and of the exact shade of cyan the cat-like creature was.

Everything Kyo's feral werecat state also had.

"Kyo…?" Was it in response to what Erin did? He immediately realized that Kyo was now far too small to remain shackled or caged, and easily snuck out. But he also still looked worn, and though his fur bristled, and his back arched, he didn't growl at him.

Despite his weakened state, Kyo still found it in him to run away when Eclair tried to approach him.

"Kyo, wait! Please-!"

But no matter how much Eclair called out to him, Kyo still darted off. Eclair not only tried to keep the blue cat pokemon within his line of sight, but worried when the black mana made him flare up with an intense, red-tinted aura now. He couldn't tell if it was another change brought about by Erin's attempt to heal him, or if it was a sign of worse to come. 

Before he realized, Kyo led him out of Corrin's castle realm, and he just barely missed the way the rest of their supports barely caught sight of their departure.

* * *

"Eclair! Are you near?! Where are you?!  _ Eclair!" _

Kamui was an anxious mess. As much as Kaze opted to take to the treetops to scout ahead quietly, he didn’t have the heart to tell Kamui off of otherwise calling him. Even when the ninja held some caution, he bit his tongue to hold back mentioning Kamui ran the risk of alerting more threats to them. As much as Lifonse also quickly realized the risk, it only urged him to move faster in the search. The entire time, Kamui had frantically pressed on, alternating of when to look around, and when to search for a scent otherwise. 

He was even more afraid for him when the dragon prince could pick up multiple distant scents at once, realizing an entire party was out there somewhere. He could tell from Eclair’s scent that he was somewhere close, but he still couldn’t tell by how much, and what worried him more was catching a scent like Kyo’s on top of it all.

But… Wasn’t Kyo still in the dungeons? Why was he now out here? Was  _ that _ why Eclair ran away…? 

Even if he loved Kyo dearly, he also worried heavily over the thought of him running into Eclair first. Immediately, a flood of memories bubbled up in his head, recalling in vivid detail how he was forced to turn into a dragon for the first time, and how easily he struck Azura down when she tried to stop him.

Even now, those memories still haunted him. He was in just enough control to have self-awareness of what he did, but not enough to stop himself. He knew Kyo would never forgive himself if he did the same thing to Eclair, and deep down, Kamui wouldn’t forgive himself to allow it either.

He grew so anxious that he sprouted his tail mid-sprint. The sight of it left Lifonse on edge, guessing whether or not it’s a bad sign. He was desperate to keep his senses tethered to Eclair’s scent, and as his horns formed and branched out along either sides of his head, he had a growing amount of dread the more he was keenly aware how close Kyo’s scent was to Eclair’s.

He couldn't help but jump a little when something came out of the bushes just in front of him. 

It took a moment for him to recognise them, and when he did, his heart nearly dropped.

"Kyo…?"

"Hey… Missed me?"

Kamui stopped in place. Right in front of him had been Kyo, but as tired and pale as he looked, he was back to his human form, and from the way his eyes were a normal shade of blue again,  _ he was himself. _

He initially couldn't form the right words. Maybe it hadn't been  _ that _ long in actuality, but to hear Kyo's voice again, it felt like far too long ago that Kyo was able to say anything that wasn't a growl, a snarl, or a cry of pain.

"Sheesh, you alright? You look like you saw a ghost."

He was so desperate to see him again. He was just as desperate to hear his voice and trust that he'd be ok again. He wanted so much to believe that a miracle happened, and all of that would remain behind them, like an awful dream.

But his scent didn't match.

He wanted nothing more than to fall for that wonderful dream, but… It wasn't him. Kamui knew.

"Don't…" Initially, his words came out too soft, like a sigh. But as his anger boiled, the strength in his voice grew.  _ "Don't play with me like that!" _

“Kamui, hold.” As frustrated as Lifonse was to see Loki, he knew he had to stay calm for the both of them, if only to shield Kamui and keep him grounded. But he was already tense, already firm, and he could tell Loki was in a spiteful mood again. “We have neither the time nor patience to deal with you.  _ Get out of the way.” _

“Ooooo, harsh. Is that any way to talk to your boyfriend?” Even when caught in the act, Loki still played up how ‘hurt’ she was as Kyo, if only to twist the knife further. “But then you were always the frosty one, weren’t you, princeling? Maybe if you learned to warm up a little, you wouldn’t drive  _ this _ Kyo to his death as quickly as the last one.”

“I won’t just stand here and take this from you.  _ Move.” _

But as much as Lifonse  _ tried _ to remain calm, it was clear from how tense his tone grew that Loki still got under his skin. And she wasn’t about to settle just with him.

“My, bold of you to think you’re in any position to tell  _ me _ what to do, Prince. But I suppose you  _ are _ quite the brave little boy to stick so closely to that beastly little thing beside you.”

_ “Don’t call him that.” _

“Lifonse…” 

He hated it, and he knew Kamui hated it too. But in his attempt to protect Kamui, he couldn’t hide the way Loki dug deep into his nerves. As much as Lifonse losing his cool was nothing new, to see him do it so quickly worried Kamui. 

One way or another, she was at least going to rile up one of them. It didn’t really matter who.

“Touchy, aren’t you? I’d be awfully careful if I were you.” It was bad enough to hear Loki show her ‘concerns’ in Kyo’s voice, but it was worse when she transformed into Xander as she continued. “After all, that dragon prince already proved he has quite a lot of blood on his hands, no?”

“It wasn’t by his choice, and I refuse to let  _ you _ frame it as such.”

But before Loki could go for the kill, now there were two Xanders. 

The first thing to catch Kamui’s senses was catching Xander’s and Teru’s scents well before Xander arrived, clearly demonstrating proof he was their true Xander when he had Teru hugging him from behind with him on his horse. The second thing was the scent of blood, and he had just enough time for panic to bubble in his chest before realizing the blood didn’t smell like his or Teru’s.

But even with a sword pointed at her, Loki didn't flinch. Rather, she turned away from him completely, and with Teru clearly ruining the guesswork, she reverted back to her true form while doing so.

"Hmph. Killjoys as usual, I see… Fortunately for you, I have better things to you than to toy with you more, but I brought a few playmates to keep you busy.”

Sure enough, just as Kamui’s senses had already suspected, the scents he couldn’t identify were growing stronger, and Loki no longer made it a secret she wasn’t alone. While Kamui and Lifonse could only hope that Kaze was able to manage on his own up ahead (and dare they hope, find Eclair), none of them could stop Loki from retreating, despite everyone going out of their way to try. 

Maybe she seemed too disorganized to expect this to be as well-planned an ambush as she hoped, but for what it was, she managed well enough to barely slip away, just as Xander opted to take one of her soldiers out before it could strike Kamui’s back. 

It didn’t take long for Loki to secure her escape by outnumbering the party, but as stressed as Lifonse and Kamui were, Teru and Xander only had to give each other a look before both seemed more confident than intimidated.

“Hurry up and go, you two.” Teru shifted, as if contemplating how to dismount and when. The hand he wasn’t otherwise keeping on Xander had moved to keep in the pockets of his sweater to take out a pokeball he hid away.

“Are you sure?” While Lifonse didn’t doubt Teru and Xander’s strength, especially together, he still couldn’t help but ask. But from the subtle, yet confident smile Xander flashed to him, it eased what remained of his doubts at a glance.

“We’ll hold them off here. Go.”

“Thank you, Big Brother…” He wanted to say so much more, but he knew they didn’t have time right then. 

As the two ran off, Lifonse was determined to press forward, but Kamui hesitated part of the way to look back to the general area they left Teru and Xander behind. It was just in time for a concentrated bolt of thunder to crash down in their general area, contrary to the otherwise calm, clear skies. Xander was powerful, Teru made do with his pokemon or otherwise, and the loud, booming crash sent them moving even faster to try to find Eclair.

* * *

A chill ran down their spine when they heard Kaze cry out in pain. It was just close enough for them to immediately rush to the source, and when they had, they were greeted with a sight that had immediately put them on their guard.

"Kyo-!"

"Eclair! Hurry! Shoot him!"

Even when Eclair initially chased after Kyo when the latter assumed a smaller form, now the mew shifted once more into his bigger, deadlier werebeast form. One moment, Eclair held relief of seeing Kaze again, but the next minute, Kyo was set off and immediately lunged to attack the ninja, claws extended and fangs barred in his frenzy. 

But no matter Kaze’s pleas, Eclair was afraid to take aim, much less open fire on Kyo, even if it meant every second he hesitated was a second more he risked his life.

"Please-! You musn't hesitate any further! I loved him as much as you did, but there are no means within your power to cure him!  _ Please, don't let him suffer further!" _

But something wasn’t right of this. Maybe he knew he was being stupid, but something didn’t sit well, and he couldn’t decide if it was solely his nerves going against him, or otherwise. Was it because he didn’t want this to be the end, or something else? But what about Kaze?

...But what about Kaze that made him so sure he wasn't strong enough to help Kyo?

"Give me your Breidablik then! How can you be so cruel?! Why won't you help me?!" Kaze's voice grew tense and curt as he finally reached the edge of his patience. He didn't care as much to remain gentle with Eclair, and when the summoner was still too terrified with his own thoughts, Kaze also no longer pretended to play nice. 

With a yelp, Kyo withdrew himself just a little when Kaze stabbed him in in his side with a kunai. This on its own would've been enough for the werecat's knees to buckle and for him to back away, recognizing his own ailing health a little more, but then Kaze went a step further, not only to move after Kyo well after he tried to back off, but grabbed him by the throat with one hand and over his upper muzzle with the other to pull.

Before anyone could reach him to stop him from trying to break Kyo's jaw, Kaze backed off. Not only because he lost his grip when his shoulder was stabbed with more kunai, but he lost his balance entirely when a ball of concentrated water struck him.

_ "I will not permit you to break him." _

Kaze did, in fact, lose his temper after all.

But to Eclair's immediate relief, it was the Kaze who slipped next to him, rather than the one who fell over. Kaze may have held himself calmly to a point of appearing cold, but he remained highly protective of even Kyo, and he tried to take cautious steps to step closer with his plans to separate the two further.

Following the direction of the blast of water, Eclair finally noticed Kamui and Lifonse as well. Lifonse was hugging Kamui loosely, not quite from comfort, but as if he initially held Kamui back, only to lose heart of it midway. Kamui himself looked as if he contemplated rushing in directly, but from the way one of his arms was so heavily mutated to deformed claws, he realized he took the shot instead.

Before any of them could reach the pair, the other Kaze was picked up and thrown away further by an unseen force. With the two properly separated, Eclair and the Kaze with him both immediately rushed to Kyo's side, as had Kamui and Lifonse. However, Lifonse and Eclair kept watch of the more hostile Kaze, especially when the force that threw him made himself known.

"H-hah… You couldn't fight your own battles, so you get your little friends to get their hands dirty for you, I see… And how long have  _ you _ been here? Were you just there to enjoy the view all that time?"

"Since Erin lost one of her Breidabliks." Seeing as how hiding further would prove useless, Lif eventually made himself visible once more. Including his floral-themed sword he kept prominently pointed toward 'Kaze's' throat. "You've been lurking for some time just outside of their realm, and now I see why."

With her own disguise ruined, Kaze finally shifted to reveal Loki's true form, but not before pulling the kunai out one by one as her wounds immediately healed. Unfortunately, even her wounds faded so quickly that it almost gave the illusion they themselves were just part of her disguise.

"My, I never knew you'd be one to take pleasure watching rough play, dear."

_ "Get out, or I'll throw you out myself." _ He hissed with such intensity that his breath grew visible in the form of blue wisps, threatening to transform his lower face at any moment. The tip of the blade was that much closer to Loki’s throat, and it radiated an aura so intense, that had the blade been his original Sökkvabekkr, he would’ve surely struck everyone down through the sheer force of his anger alone.

Kamui stuck even closer to Eclair, but not without maintaining an intense grip on Lifonse’s hand. Even through his scales, he could feel the tightness in the grip. Lifonse could get plenty angry, plenty outraged, and had his moments like this, he knew. But Lif’s anger and hatred went on levels Lifonse had yet to reach, and there would always remain a chill of where the differences in them lay.

Fortunately, Lif’s hostility was in their favor. Even more fortunately, Loki disengaged. 

“Hm, touchy, aren’t you? And for a matter that has little to do with you, no less... “ She  _ tried _ to pretend not to care anymore, but Eclair couldn’t help but feel unsettled all the same that she still focused the most on him. “But as fun as it was to watch you break your little pet, his outbursts are getting old. And I don’t believe he’s long for this world anyways."

Eclair was at a loss for words. Something about Loki made him feel like the rest of the area was a massive blur. In some ways, it was suffocating, and it made it hard to focus on what everyone else were doing and feeling.

With one exception.

Something about Kyo also drew his attention the same way. He looked just in time to notice Kaze try to approach him, yet cautiously and slowly in telegraphing his moves. As much as they worried he would attack the real Kaze just as readily as Loki disguised as him, Kyo didn't.

But when their eyes met, Kaze could see how much Kyo struggled between the part of him caught up in his exhaustions, and the part of him that still tried to manage and force a nearly-broken body to press on anyways. Urges or not, he couldn't maintain the momentum his body wanted to force out of him, and all it took was a mistimed step for him to crumble.

There were enough tells for Kaze to feel confident to approach Kyo without any more hesitation. When Kaze threw caution to the wind, so did Kamui. His grip on Lifonse's hand trembled before he releases him. The way Kyo eased into Kaze's embrace, or the way his head tilted into Kamui's hand so easily was near-limp. Between the way Kyo visibly gave up, and the way Kamui could barely keep himself composed, spilling broken words meant to reassure him he'd be ok (no matter the painful lie), Lifonse froze where he stood. He barely even registered Kamui let his hand go in slowly curling his fingers to hold air.

"A terrible outcome, to be sure." Loki was gentle and reassuring, particularly to Eclair. Was it genuine care this time, or was it simply because he himself lost enough hope to frame it that way? Even Lifonse wasn't sure anymore. The most he could do was stick just a little closer to Eclair's side. 

Even then, it did little to dissuade her from moving closer.

"Not every mortal was made to survive. Even less are able to endure Thorr’s tests." Without Eclair or Lifonse finding it in themselves to protest, Loki continued. She knew how much the sight of Kyo pained them. Her words were just as comforting as they were spiteful in twisting the knife. She was, however, fully aware of Lif watching her, enough so to spare them a fight.

"Why are you still here…? Haven't you done enough?!" It was bad enough to see everything fall apart as it had, but worse with Loki gloating of it. Lifonse could hold himself well enough not to challenge Loki's decision against fighting them, but couldn't maintain it enough to hold his tongue.

"I'm still here to offer a proposal." At least for  _ this _ much, her interests seemed much more genuine. But, once again, Eclair could feel how deeply Loki's gaze pierced him. 

As Eclair took the risk to break eye contact, he couldn't decide what to focus on long enough, between how badly Kyo's body was failing in Kaze and Kamui's embrace, or how stone-faced and tense both Lif and Lifonse were.

"Magni, surely you already know what it is, hm?"

Eclair's resolve faltered.

Yes. He didn't dare confirm it out loud, but he didn't have to. The look on his face already betrayed him.

"What's the point of mortality to a god, hm? And what would be the point to watch your mortal life flash before your eyes when you could become so much more than you are? Your little friends around you already proved they could carry you only so far. Wouldn't it be fair to become something much more than a burden even to them?"

He heard this before. Maybe not the exact words, but he felt sentiments like this before. To have her dig at him like this again shouldn't have been so hard to stand his ground on, except… something about this time left his resolve far weaker.

"A god wouldn't struggle nearly as much as your little pet there, dear. To a god, your mother's test would've been mere child's play. You've known as well as I that we've both extended quite a few olive branches to you. More than once, in fact. Only the best for our Magni, I'm sure."

Except she wasn't. She was buttering him up again. He was warned so many times that they would try to toy with his feelings, up to and including roleplaying as his family, and he would lose so much the moment he gave in.

But… his resolve was breaking even further. 

"Kyo… please… Give us a little more time…"

Kamui hugged Kyo just a little tighter. The werebeast still had yet to attack him or try, but as he was worsening, Kamui's nerves frayed as well. The weak and pitiful manner Kamui begged Kyo to stay awake, combined with how much Kaze's own voice wavered to hush and ease the two, was digging deeper in the cracks to Eclair's resolve.

"You know our offer, dear. Return to us, and he no longer needs to suffer. Return to us, and something like this can be little else but a bad memory. Isn't that what you wanted all this time?"

It was. With the risk of watching Kyo die, it was even more of a pressing wish. Even turning to Lifonse, he couldn't tell if the cursed prince looked to him with horror of realizing Eclair would change his mind, or perhaps he himself considered the idea instead.

He couldn't take much more of it. And for what Kaze and Lifonse kept from them, he was even more tired of subjecting Kyo to this. If it'll free Kyo of his curse, Eclair was even more inclined to give in and go back to Loki and Thorr, come what may of it.

"Don't."

He immediately froze in place at Lif's command. It was firm, blunt, yet piercing. It took him a moment to realize he had stepped just a little closer toward Loki, and longer still to notice Lif position himself between them.

"Lif…?"

"My, aren't  _ you _ being extra annoying today… If this is about your summoner's Breidablik, I have little interest in taking it. At least, not tonight. Surely, you have better things to fuss over and glow ominously at than my family affairs, hmm?"

_ " _ Oh _ shut up." _ She had a point, but Lif wasn't as easily swayed. He knew right away that she only brought it up as a distraction, and he was in far too bitter of a mood to distract himself with her deflection. 

He wouldn't dare let his guard down in full around her, but his gaze pierced into Eclair and Lifonse. A part of Eclair couldn't decide who terrified him more between an angered Lif, or either of his ‘family’.

"Lifonse. Consider her words very carefully." His tone was gentler in speaking to them, yet still tense. 

"But, Lif… If I went with her, I could help Kyo…" 

To his slight frustrations, he saw Loki nearly had Eclair. Yet he held his tongue when he gave Lifonse a chance, recognizing from his body language he caught on where Eclair hadn’t.

"...No. You wouldn't."

"But Lifonse-"

"Kyo would still die. The difference is then we'd lose you as well."

"But… But she said he wouldn't suffer! This could all be over!"

"Eclair… Nothing of what she said right then had promised Kyo could be cured either.  _ That's _ what you meant, wasn't it, Lif?"

"H-he…"

Even as Lif stayed silent, the look on his face said enough. Eclair tried to protest, but his words fell short, especially as the reality settled of their points no matter how much he wished otherwise.

His heart sank when the realization hit him in full. What made the feeling so much worse was the way Loki dismissed them, not with defeat or frustration, but with an annoyed, bored tone.

"Hmph… Stubborn, aren't you… Very well. I suppose we could make another raincheck of this, Magni. After all, it's what families do."

His hands trembled before he could help himself. He hated how much she baited him with such thoughts, but it was far worse to know her gentle, kind tone and understanding words were all an act. He wanted so much for it to be true, yet his anger grew when Eclair realized he could've ruined everything over a selfish wish for the impossible.

"If you genuinely cared for him, you and Thorr wouldn't have gone out of your ways to do all this." He didn't spare any trust in her from the start, but what angered Lifonse most of it was all the mind games aimed toward Eclair. "If you aren't truly going to help us, then leave. Leave, and never come back."

"You keep snapping at me for being 'unhelpful', yet has it ever occurred to you how often you seem to keep talking for Magni? My, it seems the thing the three of you Alfonses have in common are sticking your noses in the business and woes of others."

"Perhaps he didn't make himself clear.  _ Get. The fuck.  _ **_Out._ ** _ " _

He had enough. Lif already was sensitive enough of being called 'Alfonse', but with how fed up he already was, and how much she already caused Lifonse's supports to suffer enough, his voice snapped with a venomous tone, and his nerves gave her a clear view of his more mutated, cohort-like face. He still couldn't scare her off no matter how ominously he glowed, or how menacing his appearance looked the less human-like he became, but with little more than a dismissive huff, she relented. After all, Eclair wouldn't cave that night, and less so as long as he was surrounded. Her business was done here.

But it left Eclair even more hopeless and heartbroken. What more could they do? And was it already too late? 

"Eclair."

Lif's tone turned gentler. Or at least, as gentle as he could've been, for one still riled up and visibly monstrous. Even when Lif long since proved his loyalties to trust he wouldn't attack them, it was still unsettling how much he stood as an embodiment of what Lifonse was meant to be, had Kamui not rescued him.

He couldn't quite change back to a full human again. His nerves were still too keyed up. But while Eclair hesitated in guessing Lif focused on him to retrieve Erin's Breidablik, Lif seemed determined of another plan.

"Use that Breidablik on Kyo."

"H-huh…?"

"You saw what Erin tried to do earlier. She had a sound plan, but her body couldn't cope under that much strain all at once. She at least helped him enough that perhaps you can handle the rest. Take her Breidablik. Absorb her power through it and use it on Kyo."

Eclair stood up. The only hesitance he had was more from the time it took to right himself than the thought to press forward with the plan. With Lif’s blessing, he was even more resolved, and as if his body moved entirely on autopilot, he sooner found himself kneeling down and cradling Kyo in his arms well before he could remember the entire process it took to get here.

Back when he caused this mess, his demeanor and presence was hardly any different from Lifonse, or especially Kamui: someone who was shorter, petite, and who looked significantly weaker when compared to how easily towered over he was by the likes of Kaze or especially Kyo, even when the latter was in human form.

But his power level changed, and with it, so had Eclair. Now fully realized, the way he lowered himself did little to obscure how easily he could've towered over everyone, had he stood up again. He was bigger, stronger, and held a demeanor so heavily different from his form earlier, it was like he shifted into a different person.

Kyo felt so small in his arms. Worse, he was so limp and frail. He used to be his pillar of strength in better times, or at least so Eclair saw it. Yet here he was, barely alive against Thorr's test, and barely aware of his surroundings, if he was even well enough to recognize him by then.

Kamui was the most reluctant to leave them be and give them space. So much so, that Lifonse and Kaze had to drag him away, gently holding and pulling an arm each. Kamui knew what to expect just as they had. It was a battle of wills between their mutual hope their last resort was enough to spare Kyo, as they were of what kind of toil it could take on Eclair. Lif's thin frown on his face, and the chilling stillness in his stance, did little to bolster their feelings in either direction of the debate. If anything, how calm and grounded he was merely proved to the rest of them that this wasn't the first time he saw this process.

"I'm so sorry…" He was careful in how he held the werecat summoner, but his heart ached when he felt Kyo tense up in a wince, no matter how weakly. His focus on absorbing the black mana from Kyo left him almost entirely numb to his own pain as his body felt warmer. "Even though I caused this, I want to fix this, too. So please, stay with us. Let me help this time."

His determination remained firm. Initially, he withered through in taking in the black mana for himself with little outward sign of it affecting him, but he could only pretend away his own pain for so long. The way his body warmed had shifted into a pain that made his blood feel like acid coursing through his veins. He could overhear the others go from holding their breaths in anticipation and hope, to vaguely overhearing Kamui shouting and pleading with him while he was held back, though the words themselves were an audible blur to him. The world gradually felt like it was spinning around him, all while he was ignorant to the ways the black mana encroached the skin of his body with visible tendrils and cracks developing along his skin. 

He was firm. He was resolute. But even if he  _ wanted _ to cry out in pain, he could barely choke out a gasp.  _ This _ was the power driving Kyo to extremes, but even when Eclair grounded himself as not to ler it take him over, he also couldn't effectively purge it out of his own body nearly as fast, nor as seamlessly, while he was focused on Kyo. 

He also knew even before his attempt that nobody around him were healers. Maybe Loki knew this as well and didn't raise too much resistance on purpose, knowing Eclair would've punished himself enough. He couldn't take pause long enough to drink vulneraries without choking, and it weighed heavily on everyone else in knowing enough from Kyo that it wouldn't have any effect on this anyways. 

A part of him even wondered if he himself was becoming delirious. Just when his pain reached a near breaking point, he felt suddenly like the pain reached such an extreme as to turn into comfort. It took him a moment to realize the feeling was far more genuine than he initially trusted.

It started with small pricks to his chest, like claws dug into him. With the pain he already felt, the pinpricks paled in comparison, and eased almost as soon as he felt it. He was so heavily invested in focusing his quickly-draining strength onto Kyo, that he hesitated to tear his focus away, even for a moment, just to look.

“Let me go…”

It took hearing Kyo’s voice to give him pause. 

The weight struck Eclair all at once with how much he realized missed it. His will didn't falter, but he gave into temptation just enough to look down toward his arms.

He felt a lump caught in this throat when their eyes met.

“I’m not worth this. Just let me go…” The werebeast in his arms tried once more to plead with him. Even as Eclair could feel himself starting to weaken, he remained far too determined to stop, no matter the merit in Kyo's words, or the strength it took away from him to speak them. The weakened summoner gripped into him clumsily, but Eclair realized he was trying to heal him in return.

"Please…"

He didn't respond back to him beyond nuzzling his cheek to him. His breathing was picking up, and the world was spinning around him, but his focus was entirely on Kyo, and he refused to look away from his eyes no matter the protests drowned away around them, or how quickly Eclair's own energy was sapping away.

It felt like so long since Kyo looked at any of them with the recognition he had now. They fought so hard to bring that part of him back to the surface, and Eclair refused to watch Thorr's curse drown him again, even if it killed him.

He held on to his focus on that look, right until his own world went entirely dark. The last image he held onto was Kyo’s eyes. For once since all of this, they were no longer red, but blue.


End file.
